Help, I’ve Fallen Off My Snowball

I hear that the road paved with good intentions leads to nowhere good, and having missed a turn along the way, that’s where my budget snowball was heading.

Long story short – I’ve written plenty about the details already and don’t want to bore the regulars – I’ve fallen off my snowball. The good thing is that I do know how to get back up, and now firmly (or nearly so) on my feet, muscle memory will help me kick the non-mortgage ass of my remaining debt. Follow this series to watch it happen.

And so the steps I take now are likely ones you can deploy if you find yourself in a similar setting:

What Had Happened?

For me it was easy. I had built and refined my debt repayment muscle like so many hours in the gym. When I was between jobs I contracted my expenses, including my snowball payments. When I subsequently landed a new gig, my diligence had atrophied and too many buyout dollars were promptly spent on pleasures and rewards.

Get Mad!

Following the workout theme, going from lifting heavy weights for reps one day to being helplessly pinned under it later is a humiliating experience. Some of that is muscle-head ego, but most of it is simply in knowing that you are better than your current actions – or inactions. When that conclusion finds its mark, it is motivating.

Get Busy, Get Even!

Taken in sequence, the third step is always the easiest. You know what you are capable of and you know how good it feels to execute at those levels. Get back into that same groove – push that extra rep or save that extra dollar and climb back on top and back into control.

Fitness – be it physical or fiscal – just feels good. It just feels right.

Photo By: mpburrows

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Needless to say our $1000 efund went to $0 in a heart beat. All of these were must fix vs. waiting to fix. We had to put the fridge on the CC, but saved $250 via Sears scratch and dent!

We are getting back on the horse, but getting the efund back up to $1000+ and then resuming.

Dave Ozment

Yeah sometimes we’re thrown more curves at once than we might ever expect and the 1k efund helps in most cases but even then it may not be enough and hard descisions must be made… wait or more debt. The key is to not establish a negative pattern.

I kinda fell off the wagon for some ‘good’ reasons and more bad reasons. It became a slippery slope and I admit that I fell down. I trust you don’t make my mistake and I’m not pleased to be regaining my stride!